Field
The present disclosure relates to a wirelessly communicable separable system including various shapes.
Description of the Related Art
Currently, based on various packages of products and articles distributed in the market, it can be recognized whether a package has been sealed and unsealed. When a package is sealed by a security seal, if it is opened, a pattern or characters can remain on the adhesion surface to indicate the unsealed condition. This enables visually and clearly grasping whether the package is in a sealed condition before opening or an unsealed condition after opening. When the cap of a plastic bottle is unsealed, the lower portion of the cap is partly detached in a ring shape. This enables clearly grasping whether the bottle is in a sealed condition before opening or an unsealed condition after opening.
In recent years, a technology called printable electronics or printed electronics has been developed for manufacturing electronic circuits and electronic devices using printing techniques. This technology enables manufacturing an arbitrary electronic circuit on an on-demand basis, enabling an electronic circuit to be attached to or embedded in any type of product. It is predicted that the development of this technology will enable manufacturing of products including an electronic circuit with unique information recorded for each individual product, at low costs in large amounts.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-205164 discusses a technique related to a Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) type sheet. In the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-205164, data access through RFID communication is not possible before separating the sheet into a first area and a second area on a cutoff line as a boundary. Data access through RFID communication becomes possible after the separation of the sheet.
In article management business, for example, in sales and support of printers, both dealers and customers as printer users can have some issues controlling inventory of toner, paper, and other consumables. For example, to correctly grasp the inventory figures of customers, it is necessary to take time and effort to manage articles and relevant information. However, with the increase in the use of printable electronics, it has become possible to attach an RFID with unique information recorded therein to packages of consumables for each individual product. This enables the amounts and locations of products to be detected using a wireless RFID reader, where each individual product can be tracked using the unique information recorded in the RFID.
However, as for consumable products, correctly grasping the inventory figures is difficult when the RFID is simply attached to the product because it is necessary to distinguish between a new article and a used article. To correctly grasp the inventory figures of consumables, which can be used, it is necessary to distinguish between the RFID attached to a new consumable and the RFID attached to a used consumable that is to be discarded. As described above, with the conventional technique, it has been difficult to correctly grasp the inventory figures of products when the RFID is simply attached to products. More specifically, it has conventionally been impossible to suitably grasp and track the unsealed condition and use condition of each individual package through wireless communication such as RFID. This problem is not limited to the management of consumables, and there is a similar problem in the management of foods and other various types of articles.